Sultans of Delhi, Khilji dynasty - Silver tanka of Shihab al-Din Umar (1316 AD), Hadrat Dehli mint, AH 715, (Wt: 10.90 gms, Dia: 27.00 mm). Obv: Arabic legend Sikandar al-thani yamin al-khilafa nasir amir al-muminin within a circle, with mint-name and AH date in words around. Rev: Arabic legend al-sultan al-a 'zam shihab al-dunya wa'l din abu'l Muzaffar 'umar shah al-sultan.

Shihab al-Din Umar: A Child on the Throne of Delhi

When Alauddin Khalji died in January 1316 AD, he left behind a powerful Sultanate but an unsettled succession. His death brought competing ambitions within the royal household into the open. At the centre of the struggle stood Shihab al-Din Umar, a child of approximately five or six years, whose brief reign would be shaped entirely by the men who controlled his throne.

During Alauddin’s final illness, his general Malik Kafur had gained considerable influence over the government. Khizr Khan, the eldest son and former heir apparent, had fallen from favour and was imprisoned at Gwalior. This left the succession open to intervention. According to the historical accounts, Kafur gathered the leading officers after Alauddin’s death and announced an order naming Umar as the late Sultan’s successor. The young prince was placed on the throne, while Kafur assumed the regency and the actual direction of affairs.

Umar possessed the title of Sultan, but he was far too young to exercise independent authority. The arrangements at court reveal the difference between his public position and his actual circumstances. Accounts describe a brief daily ceremony at which the child appeared before the court. Once it ended, he was sent back to his mother, while Kafur met the officers separately and issued instructions. Royal ceremony continued in Umar’s name, but the decisions of government belonged to his regent.

Kafur’s position, however, remained insecure. Alauddin’s older sons were potential rivals, and their presence threatened his control of the throne. Khizr Khan and Shadi Khan were blinded, while another prince, Mubarak Khan, was held in confinement. These actions turned the struggle for succession into a violent effort to remove competing claimants.

The danger eventually reached Mubarak himself. One account describes guards being sent to blind him, only for the prince to win their sympathy. Instead of carrying out the order, they turned against Kafur and killed him. The sources differ over the precise length of Kafur’s regency, but it lasted only a matter of weeks; Barani gives thirty-five days. The general who had arranged Umar’s accession was therefore removed almost as quickly as he had secured power.

Kafur’s death did not immediately end Umar’s reign. Mubarak was released and took charge as regent for his younger brother. For a short time, the child remained the recognised Sultan while another member of the royal family governed on his behalf. This arrangement also proved temporary.

In April 1316, Mubarak displaced Umar and ascended the throne as Qutb al-Din Mubarak Shah. Historical accounts record that Umar was blinded and confined at Gwalior. His removal ended a nominal reign of only a few months. Still a young child, he had passed from prince to Sultan and then to prisoner, with little control over any of these changes.

The coinage of Umar’s reign preserves another side of this troubled episode. Despite the instability within the palace, the mint continued its work. Thakkura Pheru, a contemporary official associated with the Delhi treasury and mint, recorded Umar’s gold and silver tankas, together with several smaller denominations, in his Dravyapariksha, completed in 1318. His account provides valuable contemporary evidence that currency was produced under the child Sultan’s authority, even while the government around him changed hands.

Umar’s surviving gold and silver coins are rare material witnesses to this brief and unsettled chapter of Delhi’s history. Their significance extends beyond the short reign they represent. They carry the name and royal titles of a child who held the highest position in the Sultanate but never enjoyed the freedom to rule it. For the collector, they offer a direct connection to the succession crisis that followed Alauddin Khalji’s death—an episode in which royal birth conferred a crown, but provided little protection.